Several American Express cards offer annual airline fee reimbursements. These reimbursements can go a long way towards easing the sting of the high annual fees charged by personal Amex Platinum and Business Platinum cards. Readers often wonder which types of charges will trigger these credits and/or which methods still work. When purchases work to trigger credits, those credits typically appear automatically within 2 to 21 days from purchase. Don’t panic if you made a purchase a week or two ago and haven’t yet seen any credits yet — the data points in this post provide a solid guideline for what is likely to work. If something is listed as working, it very likely still works; we’ll be sure to change it as soon as we have verified negative datapoints. On that note, reader input is always appreciated. Please share your data points in the comments.
Amex airline fee credits are offered by calendar year. For example, Platinum cardholders can get up to $200 in fee credits for charges made up until December of this year, and $200 more for charges made next calendar year.
Step 1 is to make sure that you’ve selected a preferred airline here. Officially, you can change this selection once per year in January (if you don’t change it, your previous selection remains in place). Anecdotally, chat agents are usually willing to help you change your selected airline if you need to do so during the year.
Step 2 is to make qualifying purchases with your airline of choice in order to get reimbursed.
Things you need to know about Amex airline fee credits
A few helpful notes for airline incidental credits:
- Be sure to select your chosen airline at least one calendar day before attempting to use the credit. We sometimes see a lag before eligible charges are credited. Waiting for the email confirming that you’ve selected an airline is not always enough.
- Wait at least 2 weeks before assuming failure. While credits often post within a few days and/or the benefit counter typically moves before the credits post, there are frequently periods where things post more slowly than usual. Wait at least two weeks before attempting a different charge, contacting Amex, or reporting a negative data point.
- Charges are reimbursed based on the date of charge and count toward the allotment for the year in which the charge is dated. For example, a charge that posts to your statement dated December 29, 2024 will count against your 2024 airline incidental credit even if the charge itself doesn’t reimburse until early 2025. However, don’t wait until the very last minute — Nick once charged United club passes late at night on 12/31 and the charge posted with a 1/1 date and he missed using the airline incidental credits for the intended year.
- While Amex officially says that you can change your airline once each year in January, chat agents are often willing to change it for you if you ask nicely, even mid-year (and sometimes even if you’ve used part of the credit already).
What purchases count… officially?
Eligible incidental fees include:
- Checked baggage fees (including overweight/oversize)
- Itinerary change fees
- Phone reservation fees
- Pet flight fees
- Seat assignment fees
- In-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, headphones)
- In-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet because it’s not charged by the airline)
- Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
And, officially, the following purchases are not deemed to be incidental fees:
- Airline tickets
- Upgrades
- Mileage points purchases
- Mileage points transfer fees
- Gift cards
- Duty free purchases
- Award tickets
What purchases count… unofficially?
Sometimes purchases of upgrades, award fees, or even low-cost airfare are reimbursed even though they shouldn’t be. In some cases there seem to be maximum dollar limits. The things that work or don’t work vary by airline and over time. Something that worked in the past won’t necessarily work today.
Summary Table
The following table shows a summary of the major unofficial stuff that works or doesn’t work with each airline that can be chosen as your preferred airline. Cells are blank where we don’t have enough data to indicate one way or the other.
| AA | Alaska1 | Delta | Hawaiian | JetBlue | Southwest | Spirit | United | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap Airfare | Mixed | No | Yes, under $50 | Yes, under $150 | Yes, under $109 | No | ||
| Airfare + Airline Credit or Gift Card | Mixed Results | Yes | Yes, max ~$2502,3 | Yes, max $502 | Yes, max $1002 | Yes | No | |
| Award Fees | Mixed Results | Yes, under $200 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Paid Upgrade | Yes | Mixed Results | Yes | Yes | Mixed Results | Mixed Results | ||
| Buy Airline Gift Card or Airline Credit | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes, via TravelBank |
1) Sometimes Alaska purchases do not credit automatically. After 2 weeks, you may have success requesting credit from Amex (try the online chat function).
2) By splitting the cost of a ticket between airline travel credits or airline gift cards and a small cash component, the cash component sometimes is treated as a reimbursable fee. In these cases there is often a maximum amount for the cash component to be treated this way.
3) Paying part of a ticket with miles no longer works.
For additional data with each airline, see below…
Alaska Airlines
**Note** Since 2022, there have been many reports of Alaska charges not being reimbursed automatically. It seems that many have had success getting charges for premium seat selection and things that ordinarily should be included (like lounge access, onboard purchases, etc) manually credited via the chat function, but only after 2 weeks has passed since the transaction date. Historical Alaska data included below, but beware that you may need to chat and hope for a friendly agent. See more data in this Flyertalk thread.
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Alaska Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Award redeposit fee | $125 (x 2 passengers) 6/19. Had to call as it did not post automatically (via Flyertalk) |
| Fare difference | Price increase if $9 and $50. 12/20 (ykz1991) |
| Seat selection | • $65 PC seat selection (automatic) 12/20 (safari ari) • $45 & $49 seat upgrade 12/20 (Grant) • $149 PC seat selection (via chat). 12/20 (bbmatt) • $99 PC seat selection (via chat) 12/20 (EddyRoad) |
| Club Membership | 7/19. Had to call to get it to post (Randy) |
| Split Airfare Purchase | |
| Airfare purchase | $58.10 & $78.10 saver fares (note previous failure reports below; YMMV) 12/20 (Grant) |
| Upgrade | |
| Change fee | 12/2023: $330 in change fees split over two transactions. Manually credited via chat. (Flyertalk) |
What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $100 |
Via BK250: • 8/3/19: $63.30, reimbursed 8/7 • 8/9/19: $54.30, not reimbursed • 8/19/19: $63.30, not reimbursed • 9/12/19: $68.80, not reimbursed • 6/22/20: $49, not reimbursed (PeterSFO) |
| E-gift card | • Gift card purchases stopped working summer 2017 • $50 10/28/17 • $25 8/6/17 |
| Split Airfare | • $138 two tickets for $69 each on card + $25 Alasksa gift card not reimbursed 1/22 (Lrdx) • 1/22 (Victor) |
| In-flight snacks | 1/22 (Victor) |
American
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on American Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Split airfare purchase | $107.60 ticket purchased with $60 flight credit + $47.60 on Platinum card 7/22 (redtop43 on flyertalk) but see negative data point in “What fails” section below also |
| In-flight food & beverage | $18 in drinks 8/22 (FallenPlat on flyertalk) |
| Seat selection | • Main Cabin Extra purchased online ($138). 8/22 (Nick) • Main Cabin Extra purchased at kiosk. 12/20 (durial) • First Class upgrade purchased at kiosk 12/20 (durial) |
| Admirals Club | • Day pass 12/20 (durial) • Food / bar tab 12/20 (durial) |
| Physical Gift card $50 or less | 12/9/17: Note that we are doubtful this still works, but did not uncover a direct data point. |
| 5 Star Service | $325 3/21/17 |
| Mileage Multiplier |
|
| Unaccompanied minor fee | 8/2022 (John) |
| Award taxes** | **Note that award taxes and fees are not consistently reimbursed. See “What fails” for negative data points. 9/2022: $11.20 x 2 (Robert) |
| Status Buyback | Buyback for Gold status triggered credit (reader report on Youtube) |
AA What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Split airfare | $200 ticket using $140 trip credit and $60 on Platinum card 9/22 (lowkeyflyer on flyertalk) |
| E-gift card | Gift card purchases stopped working for many around February / March 2019. It just depends on how AA codes the purchase (coded as a gift certificate will not trigger the credit) and we have not been able to determine a way to predict how it will code. We had some positive reports in February, but most data points from mid-February onward have been negative. |
| $75 close-in fee | 7/15/19 (Dan P) |
| Award taxes | Reports here are inconsistent. Most fail, but there are some reports of fees being reimbursed (see this 5/22 report from merlin90 on flyertalk) September to December 2023: Several charges not credited (Vito) 8/2022: $64 did not credit (Nick) 6/2022: $5.60 did not credit (Mark) |
| Paid Upgrade |
Delta
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Delta Air Lines?
| What Works? | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Award fees under $200 |
|
| Lounge guest pass | 5/2022: $39 (Jeff) |
| Companion Ticket Taxes | 8/9/20: $20.20 (Greg) |
| Mileage Booster | 10/2019: $59 (Patrick) |
| Change Fee | |
| Split Airfare Purchase |
|
| In-flight WiFi** | 8/2022: Viasat charge triggered the credit (fold on flyertalk), but reports are that GoGo Internet charges will not trigger credit |
| Airfare | 1/20/22: $120 (Mel), but note that Greg has what appears to be a negative data point in 12/2022 |
| Upgrade to Comfort Plus (YMMV) | $200 Used the “change flight” function to switch to Comfort Plus 8/22 (hereitgoes) $169 (Patrick) YMMV: Not automatic, reimbursed via chat 1/21 |
Delta What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Cheap airfare | 12/6/22: $78.60. Note that the cost to change to a more expensive ticket type did get reimbursed. (Greg) |
| Split airfare with pay with miles |
|
| Award fees over $200 | |
| eGift cards | As per many reports at Flyertalk, this likely died around 6/22/19 |
| Economy Plus Upgrade |
7/12/19 (Arlington Traveler) |
Frontier
Frontier is no longer an option to select for Amex airline fee credits.
Hawaiian
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Hawaiian Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $50 |
|
| Extra comfort upgrade |
|
| Food & beverage on board | Success reported 10/18 (via Flyertalk) |
| Seat upgrade | $10 (Michael) 1/21 |
| Split payment for airfare w/ less than $50 charged to the card | $29.80 & $44 11/18 (via Flyertalk) |
| Award taxes |
|
Hawaiian What fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Gift cards | $50 7/19/17 (via Flyertalk) |
| Airfare over $50 | $53 10/17 (via Flyertalk) |
JetBlue
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on JetBlue?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $150? |
|
| Award taxes / fees |
|
| Cancellation fees | $75 7/19 (via Flyertalk) |
| Seat selection | $5 11/20 (financialhippie) |
| Upgrade from Mint to Mint Studio | $199 6/22 (fishccy on flyertalk) |
| Even More Space upgrade | $35, $50 1/19 (via Flyertalk) |
JetBlue what fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare over $150 | • $151.10 9/20 (Earthgoeshard) • $250 1/11/17 (via Flyertalk) |
| Gift cards | They don’t sell them |
Southwest
Note: Starting in 2023, credits for Southwest charges have been posting slowly, with some data points stretching as long as 3 weeks from the charge date. If you’re nervous about whether a charge is going to post, you could always consider making another charge for a fully refundable “anytime” fare under $109. Then, if your originally-intended use of the credit works, cancel your backup anytime fare for a refund. If your originally intended use fails, the sub-$109 airfare purchase will likely work. Inter-island Hawaii flights are a good place to look for those types of prices.
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Southwest Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Airfare under $109 |
|
| Early bird check-in | • 1/2022: $20 (Chris) • 5/14/20: $20 (Greg) • 9/11/19: $50 (Norm) |
| Award Fees |
|
| A1-A15 boarding | 12/2019: $40 (Sdin123) |
| Split payment for airfare w/ under $100 charged to card |
|
| In-flight beverage | 11/19 (veeRobb) |
| Itinerary change | 5/13/22: $5 & $3.02 (Nick) 5/17/20: $66.50 (Greg) |
Southwest what fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| On-board Wi-Fi | $8 charge posted, but was not credited (2/18) |
| $185 e-Gift card | Charge posted 6/22/18, no reimbursement as of 7/9/18 (Katie) |
| All e-Gift cards | Stopped working in June 2019 (via Flyertalk). A recent data point suggests that they may have worked since then for manual credit. |
| Split payment for airfare w/ $100 or more charged to card | $155 (7/19) via Flyertalk |
| Airfare over $109 | $117.14 (via Flyertalk) |
Spirit
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Spirit Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Savers Club |
|
| Big Front Seat |
|
| Partial Airfare | $6 (Rest using airline credit) 12/20 (Joe Y) |
Spirit what fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Ticket purchase | $52.80 1/20 (optimilez2016) |
| Bags bundled with ticket purchase | 1/20 (and a couple previous DPs) (s.k.d) |
| Big Front Seat via Upgrade Bid | 7/2023: Report from Flyertalk |
United
**Note that you may need to wait until the next business day after selecting United as your qualifying airline. Since TravelBank works as of 12/22, most of the other uses are less interesting.
What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on United Airlines?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Standard stuff | Economy Plus, United Club, Pet Fee, Same Day Flight Change (Note: A charge for United Club one-time passes on December 31st posted with a date of January 1st and missed using the annual credit – Nick) |
| Award Fees | $5.60 3/20/24, 3/24/24, 4/3/24, 4/6/24 (Megan) |
| Seat upgrade | Made through kiosk 11/18 (Ambrosio) |
| Economy+ seat | $132 12/23/21 (Elizabeth) 6/22/19 from Flyertalk and also $175 for transatlantic Economy+ seat in 2/19 (SKJL).$84 each (x 2) 2/20 (Matthew) |
| United TravelBank | Note that TravelBank has stopped working and started working again several times over the past few years, so it’s always worth checking back for any new DPs here before making a purchase.
|
| In-flight WiFi | |
| In-flight F&B |
|
United what fails?
| Purchase type | Recent Reports |
|---|---|
| Upgrade from economy to first class |
$175 charge on 12/27/2018 may have been too large to look like a fee |
| Split payment with GC and airfare under $100 | $50.19 partial ticket payment did not trigger credit 3/26/22 (Captain Greg) |
| MileagePlus X App Purchases | |
| United Gift Registry | This doesn’t really fail — it’s just no longer available |
| Award Fees | This appears to have stopped working according to a DP from JB in San Diego from October 2019. |
| Gift Card | |
| $99 Upgrade Fee | 2016 |
| In-Flight Wifi | United WiFi purchase on flight operated by SKYWEST DBA UNITED EXPRESS did not result in credit as purchase description was not “United Airlines”, but was “UAL INFLT WIFIONBOAR…” 12/2023 (Steve) |
Please report your results!
If you try any unofficial options, please let us know via the comments whether it worked. Tell us the date of purchase, what you purchased, the dollar amount, and whether or not you were reimbursed. Please do not report purchases that are officially reimbursed unless you do not get the credit.
What to do if you’re not reimbursed?
First, double check that you picked the airline in question as your preferred airline. If you did not, then Amex won’t reimburse you (but they have been known to make an exception if you call and say that you forgot to set your preferred airline).
If you do not get reimbursed for things that are officially allowed (checked bags, change fees, lounge fees, etc.), then contact Amex for help. If you do not get reimbursed for things that are not officially allowed (gift cards, award fees, airfare, etc.) do not contact Amex. You weren’t really supposed to get reimbursed for those anyway.
Other cards that offer fee reimbursements
Quite a few other cards offer airline fee reimbursements. And, in most cases, the things that work for Amex cards as listed above will work with other cards too.
There are a few that are very different though, so we have dedicated posts for these:
- Chase Ritz Card: With this card, unlike Amex cards, you have to contact Chase to request reimbursement after you’ve made an eligible charge. As a result, what works and what doesn’t is solely at the discretion of the person who handles your request. For details, see: Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa airline fee credits: What works?
- US Bank Altitude Reserve: This card offers a very different type of reimbursement for travel expenses. When you set up your account for “Real Time Mobile Rewards,” you can use your card to purchase travel directly and then redeem points for 1.5 cents each to offset those travel charges. See: US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards. What works where?
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Amex Bus Plat: SW flights $98.46 x 2 purchased on 6/29/24. Received credit 7/2/24.
6/25/2024 United TravelBank $100 still works. Got the credit three days later.
Just paid $11.20 in taxes for a domestic award redemption on AA. Assuming it won’t be credited but will report back in the future.
United TravelBank 50$ purchased on June 12 got the credit on June 15
Which card?
Amex platinum. Also I tried United TravelBank 100$ purchased on June 19 got the credit on June 23. It works
Delta DP.
Booked 7 Delta Award tickets for travel wholly on Westjet in Canada. Paid using AMEX Platinum.
6/15 – Paid for tickets. charge pending as one $400+ charge (original charge was in CAD)
6/16 – 7 charges of $71.09 posted to the account (each for C$97.68)
6/18 – Meter moved under benefits to say that I have used the $200 credit
So, I can confirm that award tickets and taxes on Delta Skymiles redemptions, even if wholly on partner airlines and in foreign currency, work for $200 airline fee credit.
6/19 – $200 credit posted to the account
Paid upgrade on AA on Dec. 2023 failed even after opening ticket to get it credited and then asking for an exception after ticket failed.
[…] The never ending always changing landscape on how we can take advantage of this: Amex Airline Fee Reimbursements. What still works? […]
I’d like to point out that the approach described above does not always work. I selected Delta as the airline partner and booked tickets for four people ($118 each). The total charges were $472. I purchased a $250 Delta GC and charged the remaining balance ($222) to my Amex Plat card. Unfortunately, Delta dispersed the $250 gift card to 3 individual passengers ($118 + $118 + $14), resulting in two charges on my credit card ($104 and $118). I believe Delta charged $118 as the ticket fee and then Amex reimbursed me for the $114 incidental charge. I’m not sure if I was able to clarify my situation, but I was unable to utilize the whole $200 airline credit from Amex.
Can confirm that the additional collections trick (by using a gift card towards part of your ticket cost to get Delta to charge the remaining amount to your card as “additional collections” instead of airfare) still works with Delta. I just bought two tickets (on separate Platinums) in August of this year, and the tickets triggered the credit on both my consumer Plat and Biz Plat
Do you mean April of this year?
DP: Southwest cheap flights worked.
4/21/24 – SW flight purchases – 3 transactions $85, $79, $39
4/21/24 – received the $200 credit
Can confirm on Spirit Airlines that if you bid for the big front seats via Upgrade Bid, it does NOT get credited back via Amex. Just did it a couple weeks ago and Amex did not reimburse.
I got credited back $50 ($30 + $20) for early-bird check-in in May so that one still seems to be fairly reliable
United TravelBank $100 purchase AMEX Plat. June 2, 2024, reimbursed June 5th.
I just bought a $50 delta gift card. Bought a 249 flight and used the $50 gift card. Then paid the rest with my reserve card, using the GC made the credit card payment the secondary transaction so I was credited 199 and then canceled the flight and got an e credit.
My two Southwest flights for $99.## each were reimbursed in 2 days couple of months ago.